There were a lot of trips to Piel Island over the 2021 season. This is just one of them. The main aim is to get out to sea, watch the Lancashire coast with work and worries left far behind. See the Cumbrian coast in the distance come closer and closer. Navigate into the channel and find an anchorage. Get ashore in a small inflatable dinghy. Walk the walk up the long inclined jetty capable of handling a 36-foot tide, order a pint in the Ship Inn, then pay homage to the King of Piel (order more pints). Get back to our moored boats in spite of the 4-knot running tide. Hopefully, sail back into the arms of our loving families the following day.
One of the pretty, and dare I say, cute places to visit around the UK coast, is Heysham Village. It is situated right at the far southern tip of the Morecambe Promenade. The broad walk of the promenade, roughly the width of a three-lane highway, runs a massive six miles before petering out at this little village location. There isn’t really much to the ancient village, which dates from the Roman time. It is mainly based around a single main road bordered with an aesthetically pleasing mixture of stone cottages and more substantial villa type houses, with a lovely pub that has encroached onto its adjoining stable building, an ancient church with magnificent views over Morecambe Bay, and where the single road eventually and rather pleasingly becomes a slipway into the sea, or on to the sand, depending on which state of the tide.
Click of any of these following images to see full size: –
View towards the Village and Trobshore Point to the right.View towards the Village and Trobshore Point to the right.A great little trip to Heysham Village. Went ashore in the dinghy, didn’t really need the outboard, but it wanted a run out after a long spell in the locker.
One of the boats that caught my imagination as a lad was the 24′ Eventide. Designed by the well-known designer Maurice Griffiths back in the 50s. Some were built professionally, but most were built in people’s back gardens and the like. Designed for the Essex muddy river scene northeast of London, they were a no-brainer choice for Morecambe Bay sailors back in the day.
We’ve had many examples at Wardley’s Creek over the years. But unfortunately, wooden boats need lots of loving tender care to keep them tip-top, and the nostalgic twinkle in the eye enthusiasts inclined to do the painting, corking, and varnishing are, like the boat, a dying breed.
This one has been around since I joined the club in 2014. I should imagine many people have felt that prick of strong desire to take her on. Still, after sleeping on it, they’ve looked around elsewhere and seen that there is always something a bit better, more modern, roomier inside, and made of PLASTIC.
I’m guessing that the late Eventide, bless her, outlived the man (or woman) who proudly first laid the keel–all those years ago.The Eventide 24 dream. This photograph was taken from the internet.
ONE of the great things about Wardley’s Sailor Cruising in the Irish sea is that your vista is constantly changing. So here’s a compilation from the companionway:
